Worried that output will decrease and Brazil will catch up
Sharing about the pepper industry, Ms. Hoang Thi Lien – President of the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association – acknowledged that pepper is one of the commodities traded in large quantities in the world. The price of this product is in an increasing cycle due to push factors in the market.
“Large supplies from Vietnam and Brazil both decreased because of the impact of El Nino, causing prices to increase,” she said. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s export pepper market has had major adjustments, new markets have appeared, including Pakistan, Germany, Korea, and India, all recording growth at 3-digit levels.
These reasons pushed pepper prices to grow quite strongly. Specifically, at this time last year, the price of pepper was only 67,000 VND/kg, now reaching 97,000 VND/kg, an increase of 44.7%.
Vietnam’s pepper output decreased. Photo: Pacificgroup
However, Ms. Lien also admitted that this industry is facing big challenges that farmers and businesses need to improve soon, such as quality issues to meet high-end markets like the US and EU.
“In addition, we must ensure supply by consolidating production areas,” Ms. Lien said. Our country’s pepper output ranges from 170,000-190,000 tons per year. However, recently, because the price was too low, it sometimes hit the bottom of 50,000 VND/kg, making people “bored” with spending.
Last September, when going on field trips to growing areas, the association noted opinions from households that “if pepper prices remain at 60,000-70,000 VND/kg, people do not want to continue growing them.” Worth mentioning, durian and coffee are currently too “hot” and are highly profitable crops.
“The price of coffee has never been higher and far exceeds the price of pepper like it is now,” Ms. Lien commented. According to her, we must have output to determine the selling price on the market. Vietnam is the top pepper producing and exporting country, businesses and buyers around the world monitor every move and source goods from Vietnam.
Therefore, in addition to the price issue, Ms. Lien wants the authorities and localities to pay more attention to pepper trees, support farmers to keep this crop, thereby stabilizing production areas and output.
In fact, Vietnam’s pepper production areas are shrinking and output is decreasing. Meanwhile, our country’s rival, Brazil, is stepping up production to increase output. If we don’t have a strategy, in the next few years, Brazil will catch up with Vietnam, Ms. Lien said.
Regarding the issue of pepper quality, Mr. Le Hoang Tai – Deputy Director of the Department of Trade Promotion (Ministry of Industry and Trade) – said that Vietnamese farmers and businesses need to pay more attention and apply deep processing measures. It is forecasted that the demand for pepper, especially for high-end products, will increase. Consumers are willing to pay high prices for high quality pepper.
When confirming quality and entering the high-end segment, the price of Vietnamese pepper also increased.
